world_war_2wikiaorg-20200214-history
Hugh Dowding
Hugh Caswell Tremenheere Dowding - later Lord Dowding of Bentley Prior - (1882-1970) was a Scottish airforce officer. History Early career Born in Moffet, Dumfrieshire, and educated at Winchester and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he joined the army in 1900 and the airforce in 1914, and was decorated for service in World War I. . Pages 450-451 However, Dowding was removed from front line service, and placed in charge of training, following a falling out with Air Marshal Hugh Trenchard, who favoured using bombers to subdue an enemy. Dowding was against this, arguing that there was little point in bombing the enemy if you could not prevent them bombing you in return. Page 92 Between the Wars Promoted to Air Vice Marshal in 1929, Dowding joined the Air Council in September 1930, taking charge of research and supply. After sanctioning the Certificate of Airworthiness for theR101 airship, Dowding became involved in Specification F.7/30. He was promoted to Air Marshal in 1933, and received a knighthood the following year.Cawthorne, Nigel. 2012. Page 94 As Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command (1936-1940), he organised the air defence of Great Britain. McGovern, Una. 2002. Page 451 An exceptionally far sighted innovator and capable administrator, Dowding had personally overseen the build up of Fighter Command's elaborate fighter control system, which included the Chain Home radar system. After the 1939 Home Defence Exercises, Dowding said about Chain home 'The system worked extremely well, and although doubtless capable of improvements as a result of experience, may now be said to have settled down to an acceptable standard'. . Page 31 He was also influential in defining the operation of the Observer Corps, stating that, while he agreed in principle with giving the observers better equipment, such as height finders and sound locators, it was impractical to do so due to the calibre of the civilians who manned the observation posts. Page 215 World War II An aloof, complex figure, with none of the extrovert qualities expected from a fighter leader, his nickname of 'Stuffy' summed up the opinion of him held by many of the senior officers at Fighter Command. His pilots tended to compare Dowding to a character in a play who seldom appears, but exerts a continual influence on events. . Page 19 This was most evident due to his decision to leave most of the operational running of Fighter Command to his Group Leaders.Price, Alfred, Hardest Day Page 20 In August-September 1940 the German Air Force was defeated in the momentous Battle of Britain. Relieved of his post in November 1940, Dowding represented the Minister for Aircraft Production in the United States of America (1940-1942) before retiring, becoming a Peer in 1943. After developing an interest in Spiritualism, Dowding wrote Many Mansions in 1943, which contained communications attributed to men killed in war. After the War In 1968 Dowding visited Hawkinge during production of the feature film 'Battle of Britain'. During the visit, Dowding met Laurence Olivier, who was portraying Dowding in the film, on the set of Dowding's office. When Olivier remarked that he 'had sat behind the desk all day, pretending to be you, and making an awful mess of it', Dowding replied 'Oh, I'm sure you are!', prompting laughter from Olivier and the film crew.Cawthorne, Nigel. 2012. Page 95 Hugh Dowding died in 1970. His ashes were placed underneath the Battle of Britain window in the RAF Chapel of Westminster Abbey. In 1986 a statue of Dowding was unveiled outside St Clement Danes, The RAF church in the Strand. References Category:RAF Leaders Category:People